President’s collective meeting with three top leaders

Kathmandu, 28 Aug.: A concerned President Dr Ram Baran Yadav Saturday held collective consultations with Maoist Chairman Prachanda, NC Acting Prsident Sushil Koirala and UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal Saturday amid a continuing political standoff.
The meeting comes after consultations earlier this week with Caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.
The country is run by a caretaker government for nearly two months with the failure to elect Nepal’s successor in five rounds of voting in parliament.
Another attempt to elect a government will be made 5 September.
The vote could again be inconclusive in UML and a frontof four Madesh parties again stay neutral in the election.
Following a politburo meet Friday, the UML may again stay neutral in the fresh round of voting.
Parliament which normally meets until the beginning of the festive season isn’t in session and the government is facing a cash crunch without the passage of the annual budget 2010/11 even by the end of August.
nnnn

Claim of Korean woman climb rejected

Kathmandu, 28 Aug.: South Korea’s main alpine body said today [Friday] that is would not acknowledge a female climber’s claim to have scaled the world’s 14 highest peaks, AFP reports from Seoul.
Oh Eun-Sun completed her ascent of 8,091 meter Annapurna in Nepal on April 27 claiming to become the first woman to reach the peak of the world’s 14 highest mountains all in Asia’s Himalayan and Karakoram ranges.
She claimed the feat almost 13 years after she climbed the 8035 meter Gasherbrum-II in July 1987, but it has been disputed by other climbers.
The Korean Alpine Federation said Oh probably failed to reach the top of Mount Kangchenjunga on the Nepal-Tibet border in May 2009.
But the 44-year-old South Korean has refused to accept the Federation decision. The federation said its conclusion was made on Thursday at a meeting of seven leading local climbers who has scaled the 8586 meter Kangchenjunga.
‘All of the participants shared the view that the landscape shown in Oh’s two alleged photographs throughout the entire ascent doesn’t seem to match the actual landscape,” KAF secretary general Lee Eui-Jae told AFP.
Her Spanish rival Edurne Pasaban has said that the Korean had not yet produced documentary proof backing her claim.
nnnn



Alyasa Ayres to oversee South Asia at State Department

Kathmandu, 28 Aug.: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has appointed a well-known South Asia expert to fill up a key post relating to India in the Department of State just months ahead of President Barack Obama’s scheduled visit to New Delhi in November, PTI reports from Washington.
“Alyasa Ayres will start as the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the South and Central Asian Office Bureau of the State Department on August 30. Her portfolios will include India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives,” a State Department official told PTI.
Ayres will be coming from McLarry Associates.
nnnn

ArkeFly begins flights 1 Oct.

Kathmandu, 28Aug.: ArkeFly will begin direct once weekly flights between Amsterdam and Katmandu from 1 Oct until 23 April 2011 for the second successive year, an announcement said.
Last year, the airline flew in 3,000 tourists from Europe to Nepal.
Nnnn

Monsoon continues to rain sorrow

Kathmandu, 28 Aug.:The monsoon havoc went unabated in different parts of the country today as well, with flooded rivers and rain-triggered landslides displacing scores of families, The Himalayan Times reports from Biratnagar. .

In Morang, a rain-fed Bakrakhola killed Pratima Magar (16) of Itahara-5 today, while Kurban Hemram (30) of Govindapur-5 went missing, the police said.

According to the District Natural Disaster Rescue Committee, floods have inundated 150 houses in Itahara VDC.

Suresh Adhikari, Morang CDO and the coordinator of the committee, said the committee had moved 100 families to safer places and provided them foodstuffs. Upon knowing about the flood havoc, the committee members inspected the affected areas. According to the committee, Bakraha and Chisang rivers have swept away 22 houses in Madhumalla-4 and 5.

In Jhapa, the Kamal Baniyani River today displaced 11 families from Mahabhara VDC-8, Jhapa, today. The former VDC chairman, Bijay Agrawal, said the displaced had moved to safer places, while the river continued to wash away land in wards 1 to 8. The river has also damaged sections of the Dudhe-Mahabhara-Kunjibari road.

It has breached the spur near Balkalyan Secondary School at Mahabhara-3, putting the school in danger, while a swollen Ratuwa has inundated 20 houses in Lakhanpur-4 and 5. The Kamal river has submerged a squatters’ settlement at Topgachhi-8.

The squatters’ settlement at Damak-12 has also gone under water, the police said, while the Biring river has caused inundation in Dagibari-2.

Mechi river has submerged Aiyabari of Mechinagar-12. Locals and police have rescued the affected locals.

While in Udaypur, more than 100 families at Nigale VDC of Udaypur have left their homes after Rakuli and Bhulke rivers started eroding land.

In Dailekh, mudslides have put Rum village of the district at risk. More than 11 families have moved to safer places, while Saraswati Lower Secondary School and Janata Secondary School have been closed.

In Ramechhap, landslides brought traffic movement along the Pushpalal road to a complete halt today. While Thursday night’s landslide at Suru Phee of Sarangdada has caused extensive damage to the Uttare Yasok road in Panchthar, causing a loss of hundreds of thousands of rupees. According to Road Consumers Committee member Chandra Kumar Ang Debe, more than two dozen vehicles have been stranded on the road.
Nnnn
Agni air crash
Father of British doctor had premonition of son’s death (Excerpt)

Kathmandu, 28 Aug.: The father of a British doctor killed in the August 24 Agni Air crash in Nepal has begged him not to take the flight after having a premonition about the tragedy, Daily Mail reports from London.
Jeremy Taylor,31, was one of six foreigner tourists traveling to Mount Everest base camp when their private plane crashed in bad weather. There were no survivors.
Mr. Taylor had booked a 14-day trekking tour and was traveling with a Nepalese mountain guide.
His father Trevor, from Torquay, Devon, said he tried to stop his son boarding the flight.
“He was living his dream but we were very worried. The last conversation I had with him was three days ago. I’d had a premonition. I told him don’t take the flight, the weather is bad.”
He told me,” Dad, I need to do this.” he said.
Mr Taylor was determined to reach the Mount Everest base camp to prepare for a full attempt on the world’s highest mountain next year.
nnnn